“Growing up is about choices, and sometimes young people make bad ones,” said Ball, who founded Lost Voices. “We work with kids who are in trouble, most of them locked up, because of bad choices they have made. We help them learn how to express their feelings in ways other than the destructive patterns that have been their way of life.”

Lost Voices was born in 2006 when Ball, an author, syndicated humor columnist, and folk musician, started a creative writing class for the young men at the W. J. Maxey Boys Training School in Whitmore Lake.

With initial funding from the Michigan Humanities Council, Ball’s work quickly evolved into a music-writing program in which the kids write the lyrics, and Ball, working in tandem with folk and blues musicians like White, Donohoe and Jones, collaborates with them to transform their thoughts into music.

“These are really talented children,” says Ball. “Granted, many of them have done bad things, or they wouldn’t be locked up. But they are still kids, and beneath it all they are not all that different from your kids or mine. I always find it pretty amazing how much they are willing to dig down into their deepest feelings, how much they are willing to reveal in their songs.”

The musicians will perform some of the songs written in the Lost Voices program.

“We can’t bring the kids out on stage for you to meet them, but we can do the next best thing – we can sing you their songs. Josh, Kitty and Robert and I have all worked on the front lines with the kids, and we all have songs from them that we are moved to perform,” Ball explained.

Students from the Washtenaw Community College performing arts programs will open the show.

The Concert for Lost Voices is at 6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 23 at Towsley Auditorium in the Morris Lawrence Building on the WCC Campus. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door, with student tickets available for $15 and Gold Circle reserved seating for $50. Purchase tickets online at http://lostvoices11-23-13.brownpapertickets.com or at the door.

Roger LeLievre is a freelance writer who covers entertainment for the Ann Arbor News.